Grand Prix Boston-Wocester is happening in a few weeks, and I am unable to go due to work. However, that did not prevent me from attending the Twenty Sided Store Grand Prix Trial today. The original plan was to meet my friend Seth in the finals, then scoop to him so he could be the recipient of the byes.
Things did not go according to this plan.
It all started last night. Seth had attended a GPT in Nanuet, and went 4-2. He was not able to pre-register for the Brooklyn event, and so had to opt out. Fine, I thought, I'll still make the finals and scoop someone else in.
So I packed up my bag and headed to Williamsburg. I grabbed an iced coffee after parking, and made my way to the store front. After sitting down we were asked to leave, so we could walk back in to be check off the registration list. The packs were passed and we were tasked with registering pools for other lucky participants. The pool I registered was strong, featuring Nefarox, Magmaquake, and Volcanic Geyser, and enough cards in black and red to support a solid deck.
On a side note, it has been quite a while since I have played in a competitive level event. It was oddly reassuring to be marking down lists on paper again.
After a convoluted musical chairs with decks, this is the pool I was given with which I was going to battle:
White
Angelic Benediction
Battleflight Eagle
Divine Favor (x2)
Divine Verdict
Erase
Glorious Charge
Guardian Lions
Guardians of Akrasa (x2)
Pacifism
Planar Cleansing
Prized Elephant
Silvercoat Lion
Safe Passage
Touch of the Eternal
War Priest of Thune
Warclamp Mastiff
Blue
Archaeomancer (x2)
Essence Scatter
Faerie Invaders
Mind Sculpt
Negate
Scroll Thief
Veldalken Entrancer
Welkin Tern
Welkin Tern
Void Stalker
Black
Bloodhunter Bat
Bloodthrone Vampire
Disentomb
Essence Drain
Giant Scorpion
Harbor Bandit
Liliana's Shade
Mark of the Vampire
Mind Rot
Murder
Ravenous Rats (x2 )
Rise from the Grave
Sign in Blood
Vampire Nighthawk
Veilborn Ghoul
Walking Corpse
Red
Arms Dealer
Chandra, the Firebrand
Chandra's Fury (x2)
Craterize (x2)
Crimson Muckwader
Dragon Hatchling
Fire Elemental
Flames of the Firebrand
Kindled Fury
Krenko's Command
Mindclaw Shaman
Mogg Flunkies
Reckless Brute
Smelt
Torch Fiend
Volcanic Strength
Green
Arbor Elf (x2)
Bond Beetle
Boundless Realms
Farseek
Flinthoof Boar
Prey Upon (x2)
Primal Huntbeast
Revive
Roaring Primadox
Sentinel Spider (x2)
Serpent's Gift
Silklash Spider
Titanic Growth
Vastwood Gorger
Artifact
Primal Clay
Ring of Valkas
Tormod's Crypt
Land
Evolving Wilds
How would you build it?
Obligatory blank space.
Blue was the first color I dismissed. While Double Archaeomancer makes any spell more valuable, the supporting cast was not there. White was next to go, being one, probably two cards shy of playable. I looked at Red Black aggro and Green Red aggro before settling.
This is what I came up with:
Bloodhunter Bat
Essence Drain
Giant Scorpion
Mark of the Vampire
Murder
Ravenous Rats (x2)
Rise from the Grave
Sign in Blood
Vampire Nighthawk
Arbor Elf (x2)
Farseek
Prey Upon (x2)
Primal Huntbeast
Roaring Primadox
Sentinel Spider (x2)
Silklash Spider
Vastwood Gorger
Chandra, the Firebrand
Flames of the Firebrand
Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
7 Swamp
1 Mountain
Relevant Sideboard
Pacifism
War Priest of Thune
Mind Rot
Chandra's Fury
Mindclaw Shaman
Smelt
Primal Clay
Tormod's Crypt
After the event, I showed my pool around. The general consensus was that I should have played Flinthoof Boar over Vastwood Gorger to help lower my curve and provide an additional 3/3 body.
As for the tournament, one of the things I like best about playing at 20 is that know most of the regulars, so even if I lost, there is a very good chance I'm losing to someone I like.
Round 1 was an example of the camaraderie. I was playing against Mike, another regular. Even though my pool was better than his, and I easily overpowered his deck, it was still a fun match, and there was no sense of animosity. I wished him luck, and he did the same.
Round 2 I played against Richard. He had been sitting across from me during registration, and knew he had an uphill battle. His UW deck could not muster anything and I was quickly at 2-0, feeling confident.
Round 3 was against Brian, with his incredibly strong UB deck. Brian is another likable regular, and will be missed when he moves for school. He has a levity about him, but never loses a competitive edge. Playing against him is always fun. Game one I was able to muster an offense, but when Brian asked the judge about the rules regarding Prey Upon, I knew things would not go my way. A removal spell dispatched my fighting Sentinel Spider, and I was never able to get back in the game.
Game two I made a mistake, walking into a Public Execution. I still managed to pull out the game thanks to a series of amazing top decks, including removal spells and Silklash Spider.
Game three Brian's deck came to play, providing a Staff of Nin I had not previous seen. I was holding on to the game by the skin of my teeth, but eventually, the combination of Staff of Nin and what felt like infinite removal spells did me in.
Round 4, I was paired against Alex with BG. Game one was over rather quickly, as he had a Walking Corpse with two Rancors. I managed to remove the Corpse, but could not deal with a Stuffy Doll wearing two pairs of angry pants. I sided in Pacifism in an attempt to hold off anything wearing Rancor. Game two was closer, with only one Rancor making an appearance. However, Sands of Delirium was what did me in- I had no way to deal with it and I lost, unable to push past a Stuffy Doll.
Round 5 I played against Zac with GW. Game one I messed up my sequencing of plays- the second mistake I remember all day. It cost me, and eventually his army overwhelmed me. Game two I could not deal with double Pacifism, and just like that, I was out of contention for prizes.
I dropped, but I was not really upset. I played well, and only one of my errors hindered me. I built my deck well, and just ran into better decks (both Alex and Brian would make top 8). I had my fill of Magic for the day, and I was happy.
But I signed up for a draft anyway. After drawing too many lands in round 1, I realized my heart was no longer in playing, and I dropped at 0-1 to go home and eat some dinner.
So my plans went awry...so what? I went and played near my very best, and more than anything else, I enjoyed myself. I remember a time when going to play Magic and losing in this fashion would have aggravated me. Instead, today, I used it as a chance to examine exactly what happened. And it taught me: sometimes, it isn't anything you did. Sometimes, they're just better.
Sure, in Round 5, I might have been able to win game one if I had sequenced correctly, and maybe I would have won that match and earned myself some packs.
I know now. I'll know for next time.
And in the end, I had fun, and there isn't anything else I can really ask for from a game.
No comments:
Post a Comment